Authors note: So while I'm trying to make a decision about the possible sequel for my story the Obsession of Love, I decided I just wanted to do one quick one-shot. While I was writing this authors note, I had no idea what I was about to write. I just went with it so um…here we go. This story doesn't make any sense at all…I just…wrote it.

~The Guy with the Green Belt~

Okay…so…I have this, um…obsession with…belts.

Please, please don't laugh or snicker. I mean, this is kind of embarrassing.

When I was little, like five or something, my mother bought me my first belt. It was a girl's solid classic, black and brown leather belt, hand sown with cotton threads and floral patterns.

Oh…how I loved that belt.

I wore it everywhere and anywhere. I showed it off to my family, my friends, random strangers who couldn't stand me. I just felt like…everyone needed to behold its beauty.

Then one day, I turned eight, and didn't fit anymore.

I cried about my belt but my obsession did not stop there. I just collected more. I even was able to find a belt that sort of looked like the first one I had been gifted. It was wonderful; just me, my belts, and happiness.

I am not a weirdo! We just…all have our things. I mean, my best friend Carrie is obsessed with posters of anorexic models. My other friend Mark is a fanatic for video games with frogs. I even know this one guy who collects dead bugs.

Yeah…and you thought I was weird.

Well, everyone knows about my little obsession at school. When I walk the hallways, they always comment on the four or five belts wrapped around my skinny jeans. Some kids even laugh at me for it…especially the preps. They say I'm suffocating my hips. I say my hips are getting a much needed exercise.

Everything was peachy-keen until one day…he came.

His name was of no importance.

He was the new student. He had transferred in the middle of the semester for reasons unknown. But he was here now. He had wavy brown hair and gray eyes. Yes, he had gray eyes. He had a few freckles scattered on his cheeks. He was skinny but broad. He had his DC hat and his DVS shoes and his Metallica band tee and his tight but loose jeans and…his neon green belt.

I was in love. No, I was more than in love. I was infatuated.

Not only was he like my dream skater boy but he…he had that wonderful neon green belt.

I stared at him so long Carrie had to slap my back in order to make me refocus.

But I couldn't help it. He was…wonderful.

I heard the preps laughing it him. He did do things quite differently. He laughed loud. Like…really loud. I guess he didn't care. His school club choices were already evidence of that. Math club, are you serious? Sometimes I could see him roll his eyes when the preps made fun of him. Then he would grin and skip off into the distance, not caring one bit. He would dance in the hallways when everybody was looking. He sang in the restroom and during gym. And he picked up all the trash littered on the floor…ALL OF IT.

Then one day, someone called him a real horrible name I dare not repeat. That day, he didn't roll his eyes. He just sort of…looked away.

Yet and still, I always looked forward to seeing his face. He always smiled. He had perfect teeth, you know? And he was always so nice. I mean, if you forgot your homework…he would give you his! If you forgot your phone, you could borrow his for a day. If you forgot what day it was, he would tell you! Okay…maybe that last one is slightly less "amazing" than everything else but still! He was a stand up dude. Even the preps were starting to acknowledge him. And although I didn't approve of him doing most of his favors for them, I still admired him.

And even more, he always wore that neon green belt. Sometimes he would layer so many on his jeans that you couldn't see it, but it was always there. I always made sure too. I'm not a pervert! I just wanted to make certain…and well, he was hot. I stared for lengthy periods of time at well…his belts. Carrie thought I was disgusting.

I hadn't built up the courage to speak to him. He smiled at me once but only because Carrie and I had been giggling too loud.

I was determined to say hi one today. I had to.

But as he walked passed my desk each day, green belt and all, I said nothing.

When I tried to glimpse behind my shoulder and grin at him, he was always talking to some other girl.

So one morning, I walked into class, my waist wrapped in six belts with no expectations. I mean, it was just another Monday. Another day in stupid algebra. Another day of my stupid, uneventful, monotonous, ordina-

"Hey…you're Jamie…right?"

I looked up. It was the guy with the green belt.

Kill me.

"Yes," I said in the lowest voice. Speak up, woman! Speak up!

"Oh…cool," he said, nodding his head. He was touching my desk. He was wearing his green belt.

A silence…a horrid, horrid silence followed.

"So," he said out of nowhere, his voice cracking, "Um…I wanted to like…tell you something."

My heart went a flutter. Was I dreaming? No, I couldn't be!

"Yes…" I whispered in a lovesick voice.

"Well…this has just been going around the classroom and well…it finally got to me. And well…I just wanted to say—"

I nodded quickly as he walked to the back of the room. I could hear giggles behind me. The preps were all patting his back like he was some sort of champion. Maybe I was just the pawn of some nasty bet. Carrie rubbed my shoulder. I just slouched farther into my seat.

He had noticed my plights in locating his green belt. I hadn't been staring at his butt! His green belt just happened to be there…

Ugh…it's just all so wrong. I mean…it was all for the green belt. It wasn't even that I liked him…I just thought he was hot. And nice at times. Not now though…

Time passed and we never said a word to each other. Now, even though I had tried murmur a greeting here and there, he never replied. When I smiled at him, he just looked away. We were growing apart. But…I guess you can't really grow apart if you've never been together? Huh…well, that sucks.

As time went on, I found that I didn't really like the guy with the green belt. Sure there was the "You're watching my butt" incident but there were other reasons too. He seemed snotty, haughty, conceited, arrogant, and self-important. I understand all those words mean the same thing. It only proves that his sheer superciliousness was becoming unbearable. He only hung out with the preps. He didn't dance…he didn't sing. He left all of his clubs. And he didn't pick up trash.

But worst…worst of all was their laughter. Their laughter was like a rake to the sidewalk, chalk to a blackboard. It gave me a migraine.

Soon, I only looked forward to spotting his green belt. It was now quite noticeable seeing as he had turned into a complete prep. His curly brown hair was no more. Now it was blonde. It was spiked and "swooshy". Yes, that combination is possible. Now, all his skater labels had disappeared. He traded in his band tee for a Hollister polo shirt. He dealt his DVS shoes for Nike Dunks. He gave up his DC hat for hair gel. He threw away his skater jeans and bought…cargo shorts. It was just…a tragedy.

But I didn't really care. I didn't like him anymore. He had defected to the prep side of the school. He had fallen into their clutches and become an "In Child." An In Child is an individual who succumbs to the masses and in turn is a beneficiary of this decision. In other words, for turning into a complete popular zombie, he doesn't have to pay for his lunch.

I like paying for my lunch.

Anyhow, I wasn't worried about this guy's status at school. He was lost to me.

The only thing I cared about now was that neon green belt. I knew it was next. He was going to let it go. And oh, how I loved that belt. I just…wanted it to stay safe. I never wanted to see it disappear. In a weird way, it made me happy. To me it said "Hey…I'm loud and I'm bold and I like me. You should be the same." Whenever I saw it, it gave me courage to just…be me. If I had been gossiped about that day or if someone had called my extra pounds "fat"…the green belt would tell me otherwise. It told me to stay strong. It told me yes.

Yeah…I know I'm weird, but I have very few things in my life to look up to.

Well, the day finally came. That awful, tragic day had at last come.

The guy with the green belt…that guy…he was no longer. Because the neon green belt was gone.

I didn't know him anymore. He could be a new student for all I care.

I almost wanted to cry.

"What's wrong?" Carrie asked. She looked up from the homework she was desperately trying to finish before class.

I sighed. "It's the green belt…it's gone."

"…You aren't still hung up about that, are you?"

I shook my head. "Not anymore."

I glimpsed at the back of the room. He was laughing with all the prep kids. I glanced down at my lap, gazing at all the belts wrapped around my waist.

I ripped them all off in the bathroom after class for no reason.

The guy didn't show up the next two days. He was just "the guy" now. I wondered where he had gone off to. I asked a few of his friends where he was but they didn't know. I pondered his disappearance. Part of me hoped he hadn't transferred. Although at first I had solely liked the belt, I suppose part of my adoration had been for him as well.

Three days later, he returned.

The guy with the green belt returned.

He was decked out in his skater threads. He was a brunette again. He was smiling his wonderful grin. He was dancing and singing. He was picking up trash. And he was sitting in the front of the class.

When a girl asked him why he wasn't with the preps he simply replied, "Eh…I don't mind paying for my lunch anymore."

I smiled down, feeling quite stupid for not wearing any belts today.

I glanced over at him, the green belt layered on top of all the other belts hugging his waist. He saw me and he smiled.

My heart started to pound heavily when I heard him stand up from his desk and begin to walk over to the other side of the room. My side of the room. I bit my lower lip. He was standing right over me.

"Hey…it's Jamie, right?" he said, just like before.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh…cool…" he murmured.

"Mhmm."

Then there was that same horrible silence.

"Well um, I just wanted to say something."

I clenched my fists as I peered up at him. "Yes?"

He beamed down at me, his hand grazing over my desk. "Well this has just been going around the school and well…it finally got to like me and—"

"Yes?" I interrupted, waiting for the inevitable.

He paused a moment. Then he spoke. "Well…you can…stare if you like."

My body shot up. "What?"

He grinned again, leaning closer to my face. I inched back.

"You can stare…" he murmured before his eyes widened, "I mean, at my belt. Because somebody told me that you hadn't been staring at like my butt. Stupid rumor—err, sorry about that. Someone just said you liked my belt so like…if you want to stare…you can."

I melted right about then.

"Oh…okay," I said.

The boy with the green belt pursed his lips as he backed away from me. "To be honest, I never thought you were that kind of girl. It's kinda impossible with all those awesome belts you wear. I mean…awesome belts equals awesome person…right?"

I nodded lamely, sinking back into my seat. I spent the whole day staring at him. No, not at his belt. Him.

I guess an awesome belt does in fact equal an awesome person.

I never figured out why the guy with the green belt left the preps. I never discovered who had told him I wasn't a pervert. But whatever the reason and whoever the person, I'm glad everything turned out the way it did.

Cause with the guy in the green belt I learned all hope wasn't over.

He had turned to the prep side…and survived.

So…guess what I'm getting from my boyfriend for my birthday this Saturday?

Authors note: I really have no idea why I wrote this. I just kept writing and writing. I didn't know where I was going with it. Maybe I'll reedit it sometime and actually give it some purpose. For now, just review if you thought it was cute…I guess. And yeah, you were never supposed to find out his name. I didn't give him one…actually.

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.